Montreal Neighbourhoods

The island of Montreal is divided into 19 boroughs (arrondissements) and 15
"breakaway" municipalities (which, despite being located on the island, have been
considered autonomous "suburban units" since January 1st, 2006).
Most of the city's boroughs are further sub-divided into neighbourhoods. We
tried to cover the most important ones. Not surprisingly, they are all located
close to the centre of the island, in the most densely built-up area.

One street holds a special importance in the city layout. The Boulevard St-Laurent
(or Saint-Lawrence Boulevard, sometimes also called 'the main') runs north-south and
divides the city into "east" and "west".
The split is denoted in many street addresses: when the
"Est" suffix is added to the name of a street, it indicates
a location east of the main. Conversely, the "Ouest" suffix
means that the location is to the west of St-Laurent.

Ville-Marie is the oldest and most central of Montreal's boroughs. It is composed
of several distinct neighbourhoods:

Centre-Ville
(Downtown): the main commercial and business area, with many hotels and restaurants.
Some housing also exists (typically at the high end of the spectrum), but most
of the neighbourhood is commercial in character.

Vieux Montreal (Old Montreal)
- the mainly historic part of Montreal, roughly corresponding to the city's
19th century footprint. Many old, beautiful buildings.

The Quartier International
- mostly office / commercial and hotel buildings, although a cluster of
new condos allows this neighbourhood to claim a mixed-use character.
Located north-west of
Vieux Montreal (Old Montreal).

The
Quartier des Spectacles
- a neighbourhood under (re)development. The Quartier des Spectacles is already
home to many entertainment venues and more will be added in the coming years.

Shaughnessy Village
- a lively area west of rue Guy and east of rue Atwater. This area is both predominantly
high-rise and residential - a rare mix in Montreal. Many of the residents
are students and recent immigrants. Several condo buildings have been constructed
since the early 2000's.

The Quartier Latin
- a small area next to the
UQAM (Université du Québec à Montréal) campus. A lively atmosphere, with many
bars and restaurants, but also with more than its share of social problems.

The Village - an
area east of the Quartier Latin. Home to many establishments targeting the
city's gay community.

Le Plateau
- a mostly low-rise residential area, which nevertheless boasts
a lion's share of the city's restaurants and bars.

Mile End
- previously known simply as the north-western part of the Plateau (see above),
Mile End is now considered a separate neighbourhood. It is more
linguistically mixed than the predominantly French-speaking Plateau.

McGill Ghetto
- a residential area east of McGill University
populated largely by its (mostly English-speaking) students.
The "ghetto" moniker is somewhat misleading - the area is neither dangerous
nor particularly rundown (at least, nothing beyond what
one would expect from a neighbourhood lousy with students).

Griffintown
- an old (and until recently, neglected) neighbourhood located
just south of downtown Montreal. In another era, Griffintown was the
heart of the city's Irish community.

Saint-Henri
- a rapidly gentrifying working-class neighbourhood just west of Rue Atwater.
Somewhat rundown and even sketchy in its central part, it is rapidly growing
condos in the northern and southern sections.

A mainly francophone residential area located just north of the mountain.
In many ways, Outremont is similar to
Westmount, except for the fact that it is
mostly francophone whereas Westmount is
predominantly anglophone.

Westmount is a predominantly English-speaking district located
just west of Shaughnessy Village. Since January 1, 2006 is it one of
the self-governing municipalities located on the island of Montreal (and
thus it is not a borough, but a city in its own right).

MONTREAL's NORTH, EAST, SOUTH AND WEST

A note of caution about local geographic terminology. The city is laid out
on something resembling a grid, but its orientation is such that it would
be very inconvenient to give directions in precise geographic
terms (e.g. "you need to go NorthNorthEast from here").
Thus, in Montréal, the meaning of the words "East", "West", "North" and "South"
has been changed to mean roughly "NorthEast", "SouthWest", "NorthWest" and "SouthEast",
respectively.

IN CONTEXT: THE MONTREAL METRO

The above only discussed areas located on the island of Montréal.
Montreal-the-island sits in the middle of in what is known as the Montreal
Metro Area (the Communauté Métropolitaine de Montréal or CMM). The CMM
consists of five entities, Montreal being the main one. The other four
"pieces" to this puzzle are called the South Shore, the North Shore, Laval,
and Longueuil. The latter two have city status.